Green-Eyed Monster
by LouBlue
Summary: Rose/Ten. No good deed goes unpunished. After an act of mercy, Ten and Rose find their relationship under threat and themselves at odds. The Doctor discovers just what lengths he'll go to in making sure he won't lose the one person he can't live without.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all, thanks for checking out my little fic. Much appreciated. This is my first Ten/Rose DW fic. I've written a couple of Eleven/Clara ones and had ideas for 10/Rose, but never quite got around to posting anything. This is the first story I've written in over a year. I used to write every day, but life got in the way for the last year or so, and I'm just trying to get the discipline back into my life. So, here we are.**

 **This is the part where I usually over explain the story and try and convince you to read it. But, I figure you're already here, so I'm going to cross my fingers and hope you'll give this story a chance. There will be laughs, danger, jealousy, despair and feels. Lots and lots of feels. Because, you know, it's Ten and Rose. ;)**

 **Hope you enjoy…**

GREEN-EYED MONSTER

"True love cannot be found where it does not exist, nor can it be denied where it does"  
― Torquato Tasso

 **Chapter ONE**

"I can't believe we've just rescued a member of the ancient race of the Dushraki," announced the Doctor in awe, as he carefully laid their latest guest on the TARDIS down in the middle of one of the main engine rooms. "They are the stuff of legends. Incredibly rare and exquisitely beautiful."

Rose eyed the orb about the size of a basketball, which was emitting green/grey light and struggling to hover a few inches about the ground. Chunks of its greying flesh were missing and there was a disconcerting ooze coming from what looked like pustules. The smell was not good either. Rose tried to pick her words carefully. "Well, sure, I can totally see that." Maybe exquisitely beautiful meant something different in Gallifreyan - like an oozing mess that looked a blue whale with a terrible head cold had coughed up.

"She is a long way from her home world of Luvendeer," he tutted in concern.

"She?"

"Oh yes," said the Doctor, head bobbing up and down as he peered at the newcomer more closely over the top of his glasses. "Obviously a she. And quite the looker."

Rose side-eyed him after watching more of the bilious substance ooze its way down what looked like an open wound. "When was the last time you had the prescription in those glasses checked?"

The Doctor looked at her in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," said Rose hastily, not wanting to be rude. She crouched down beside the Doctor as he hovered solicitously over what Rose couldn't help but equate to a floating scab. "What about the space station we rescued her from?"

"You saw the state of it. It's just space junk now. I scanned the entire thing; there were no other lifeforms on board other than this beautiful girl."

"What do you think happened?"

The Doctor glanced at her before turning his attention back to their patient. "I checked the ship logs. They were quite corrupted. I've taken a copy and will see if I can salvage anything. Although, I'm sure we'll just be able to ask our new friend, once she's a little more healed."

"She talks?" said Rose in surprise. She eyed the grey blob, looking for anything resembling a mouth. "I thought-"

"Thought what?"

"I dunno. Like, she was a pet or something."

That earned her incredulous look. "Rose, the Dushraki are an ancient race of revered, sentient beings that are worshiped as gods on some planets. They are the stuff of myth, of legend. In fact, they are so rare; some people do not even believe they are real. Like unicorns."

"Unicorns aren't real."

"Of course they are," tutted the Doctor.

"I've never seen David Attenborough do a special on them," commented Rose dryly.

The Doctor put out a steadying hand as the orb listed to one side. "Well, he wouldn't, would he, being a Tu'Vub, they're deathly allergic."

Rose's eyes went big. "Wait, what? You're telling me David Attenborough is an alien?"

"Yes," said the Doctor, peering more closely at the grey orb.

"Who is allergic to unicorns, which apparently are a thing now?"

The Doctor turned and smiled at her. "Yes."

"Can I see one?"

"Probably. We get TV reception here, and isn't there some kind of law in your country that an Attenborough nature show has to be showing on at least one of your channels at all time, to stave off thermonuclear war or the like?"

"Not David Attenborough," said Rose in exasperation. "The unicorn. I want to see a unicorn."

"Oh well, why didn't you say so? Nothing easier."

"Where on earth do they live?"

"Throop." When Rose continued to look at him blankly, he clarified. "In Dorchester."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "There are unicorns in Dorchester?"

"Well, their space ship crash landed near Affpuddle, but they kind of set up shop in Throop."

"Unicorns fly space ships?" asked Rose in disbelief.

The Doctor laughed. "No, of course not. That would be ludicrous." He smiled at her. "That's why they have the hedgehogs."

"Hedgehogs are from another planet?" she squeaked. After travelling with the Doctor for so long, Rose sometimes thought she was getting close to understanding how much she didn't know about what was out there. Then they'd have these conversations and she'd realise that was so far from the truth.

"Dimension. Another dimension."

Rose slapped his arm. "Get out of here!"

"It's true."

Rose's mind was racing. "How do hedgehogs fly space ships?"

"It's more or less a pulley system."

Rose's eyes narrowed, suddenly suspicious. "Are you having a lend of me?"

"Oh, I never joke about one of nature's most deadly killers."

"Unicorns?"

"Hedgehogs. They could take over the earth in a week if they put their minds to it."

"Why don't they then?"

"Intrinsically lazy little beings." The Doctor tapped her nose playfully with his finger. "Which is lucky for you little homo sapiens, I have to say."

"Hedgehogs couldn't take over the world. They're tiny," protested Rose.

"In their larval stage, sure," said the Doctor knowingly, "but you never want to see them once they pupate. Another story entirely. What do you think happened to the planet Acleon?"

"Hedgehog invasion?" offered up Rose uncertainly.

"Exactly," said the Doctor triumphantly.

Rose had a lot more questions about this whole thing. Like, if hedgehogs were so dangerous, how did they end up flying unicorns around? And she still didn't know why no one had ever seen a unicorn. However just then a bit of slime glooped off their patient and splattered on the floor, pulling her focus back to the issue at hand. "Is she going to be alright?" Rose bit her bottom lip in concern. "How can we help her?" Rose wasn't sure what this Dushrakian was meant to look like, but she suspected this wasn't it.

"Right now she's taking energy from the TARDIS, but her home planet has three blue suns. We'll find her a nice blue sun and she'll be able to soak up the energy from it. That will help her healing process no end."

The Doctor leapt to his feet. "I'll set the coordinates."

Rose glanced over her shoulder and watched the Doctor hurry from then room. She then turned her attention back to her new travelling companion. "You're going to be okay." Rose wasn't sure if the creature could hear her, but if there was a slight chance, Rose wanted to reassure their guest. "The Doctor's amazing. He saves people all the time. He's going to save you." She hesitated. "Are-are you in pain? Can I do something to help?" Rose felt particularly helpless to know how to make things better for this entity that was clearly suffering. "I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler. It's nice to meet you." She trailed off, not sure what else to say. A name suddenly appeared in her head. "Eris," she breathed and then blinked. "Did you do that? Is that your name, Eris?" The name came to her again. "Are you in my head?" There was no response. "Look, just try and rest, yeah? The Doctor is going to sort this, I promise. You're not alone anymore. You have us now. We're not going to let anything else bad happen to you." Rose stood up. "I'm going, but I'll be right back." Rose backed out of the room and hurried off to find the Doctor. He was standing over the center console of the TARDIS, flicking through star maps and mumbling to himself.

Rose came to stand beside him. "I think she spoke to me." Rose wrinkled her nose. "Kind of. In my head."

"The Dushraki are capable of cellular telepathy. At least the more talented ones are." The Doctor looked at her with keen interest. "What did she say?"

"Eris." Rose hesitated. "That's her name, right?"

"Undoubtedly."

Rose rubbed her nose. "It made my nose tingle when she did that. Put her name in my head, I mean."

"Mmm, it would. Your little monkey brains are not built for that kind of high level communication."

"Oi!" Rose slapped his arm. "Do you mind? There is nothing wrong with my brain."

"No, it's a perfectly wonderful and serviceable human brain." The Doctor turned his attention back to the star maps. "As far as human brains go, which, compared to a Dushraki brain is, well, not that far."

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Sometimes you're so rude."

"Eris is all brain," pointed out the Doctor. "You humans are only 5% brain and you use only 10% of it." He smiled brightly at her. "It's just simple mathematics, there is no competition."

"I wasn't aware I was in a competition."

"You're not."

"Good."

"Because a competition suggests you have some chance of winning, and you don't."

Rose's eyes narrowed in mock-menace. "Keep that up, and Eris isn't going to be the only one in need of medical attention, Mr. Smart Mouth."

"That's Doctor Smart Mouth to you," said the Doctor, the corners of his lips twitching as he continued to study star maps. "And I was just stating the facts."

That earned him another eye roll. "And to think I was talking you up to Eris just now. I should have told her the truth about you."

The Doctor turned his attention back to her, cocking his head to one side. "Which is?"

Rose smiled sweetly. "Not ginger and not funny."

"Hurtful."

"Just stating the facts."

"Sometimes I can't recall why I keep you around," noted the Doctor teasingly.

"Because you'd be lost without me," said Rose cheekily. "I complete you."

He half-smiled. "I didn't realise I was half-finished."

"Which is exactly why you need me." Rose looked back over her shoulder. "Is there anything I can do for Eris? Is she in pain? What would help?"

The Doctor's smile widened.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just like how you don't think twice about helping other species."

"You helped me," pointed out Rose. "Did you think twice about that?"

"I didn't think once," he admitted.

"Well, there you go then." Rose smiled up at him. "What goes around comes around."

He nodded slowly. "I suppose it does."

"Cup of tea?"

"Sorry?"

"Would Eris like a cup of tea? Would that help?" Rose grimaced at his amused look. "I'm English. We think tea fixes everything. And it helped you when you first regenerated."

"That it did," said the Doctor indulgently, "but the oxidizing agents in tea would dissolve Eris' neural links, so best not this time round."

"Okay, then I'll just go and keep her company, and you find those blue suns."

The Doctor pointed to the screen. "Already on our way. Eris will be back to her old self in no time."

"Team Rose/Ten does it again," said Rose happily, as she headed back to their patient.

"Why do you get top billing?" protested the Doctor in amusement.

Rose threw a teasing look back over her shoulder. "Because I'm the cute one. Obviously." She couldn't be sure, but Rose thought she'd heard the Doctor murmur 'obviously' as she left the room. Rose smiled to herself as she walked down the corridor back to Eris, intent on helping their new friend back to health, and then, next stop was Throop, so she could see those unicorns. Travelling with the Doctor never got old. There were always new adventures to be had, and her smile widened at the thought of the two of them sharing those adventures together.

Life didn't get much better than this.

 **A/N: Okay, scene established. If you're interested, there is a scene with Rose, the Doctor and a bed in the next chapter. Yes, I have no shame in exploiting your emotions to get you to read the next chapter. No shame. Remember that about me. Would love to hear where you think this is all going. Or where you'd like it to go. Hope to see you in the next chapter. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to those who read my first chapter and returned for a second. And a giant thank you to those who commented. That was so very kind of you. The plot thickens in this chapter… at least I hope it does… assuming I want a thick plot, which, now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure I do.**

 **Too late now. Hope you enjoy. :D**

 **CHAPTER TWO**

Life didn't get much worse than this.

"I thought you were supposed to know everythin' about everythin'!" complained Rose loudly from her current position, hunched over a waste paper bin, before violently throwing up yet again into it.

"I am sorry, Rose Tyler, but my data indicates quite clearly indicates humans and the Cyterian Blog fish are compatible, and can be ingested without any problem," replied Eris calmly. After two weeks of bathing in the light of a blue sun, their patient had begun to heal impressively. Now she was about the size of a small car, emitting a brilliant green light with delicate tendrils floating around her glowing, orb-like form. Her ability for telepathic communication had also improved immeasurably.

"Does this look like-" Rose interrupted herself by throwing up again, before continuing shakily, "-I'm ingesting it with no problem? Your data is dodgy!"

"That is simply not possible, Rose Tyler," said Eris smugly. "Perhaps you are just an inadequate specimen of humanity?"

"Why you-"

Rose wanted to say a lot more but simply couldn't stop emptying the contents of her stomach into the waste paper bin long enough to do it.

"Rose."

The Doctor's voice floated down the corridors to the library.

"I'm in the mood to wear a cape. I feel like it's been an age since I've worn a cape. What say we take a little spin to Shion ORI? They are very big on capes there. They use them to catch solar energy which powers their-" The Doctor was in the doorway now and stopped short as he saw Rose in her hunched and miserable state. "Rose!" he exclaimed, immediately hurrying over to her sid., "Whatever are you doing?"

"Baking a chicken!" she snapped at him in annoyance but then instantly regretted it as the mere mention of food made her start heaving up again.

"Rose Tyler partook of the Cyterian Blog fish," supplied Eris, for the Doctor's edification.

"Good heavens!" The Doctor's brow wrinkled in concern. "Why would you do that? Human stomachs really can't handle the secretions by the Blog fish's flesh. The chemicals in them stop them from freezing in the ice lakes. Really, Rose, you must be more careful and ask me about these things before you just hoe in."

If Rose had had any strength left in her she would have told the Doctor she'd asked Eris and been lied to, but as it was she could barely keep herself upright after her marathon bout of vomiting.

The Doctor must have seen that she was in no fit state for a conversation on the matter. "We'll talk about it later." He picked her up in his arms. "Right now I think bed is the place you need to be."

Rose's head lolled back against his chest, not having enough strength anymore to hold that part of her upright. Even so, she attempted a glare in Eris' direction, but her unfocused gaze probably didn't pull it off the way she was hoping. The Doctor whisked her out of the room and before she knew it, he was laying her carefully down on her bed. "Stay here," he instructed her.

Moving really didn't feel like an option to Rose right then, or possibly ever again. She tried to tell him that, but only managed a vaguely guttural sound, which the Doctor must have taken as agreement because he immediately hurried off. Rose closed her eyes and when she opened them again, the Doctor was standing over her again.

He held out a black liquid to her. "Drink this."

Rose's stomach churned at the thought, and she shook her head. "I'll be sick."

"This will make you feel better," he promised.

Rose eyed the unappealing black liquid, hesitating, but then decided nothing could be worse than her current state. She reached out with a hand shaking so badly the Doctor gently brushed it away and simply held the glass to her lips.

Rose took a sip of the drink and grimaced. "Ugh."

"All of it."

She screwed her face up at him, but nonetheless managed to drink all but the last few mouthfuls. Rose flopped back on the bed and gave a low groan; squeezing her eyes closed and feeling like her insides were on fire. She felt the Doctor removing her shoes. "Am I going to die?"

"No."

"How can you be so sure?" Rose felt like death was inevitable and couldn't help a little shudder of fear. "I ate acid. Acid kills people."

"Open your eyes."

"Can't," mumbled Rose shakily. Her head was spinning and opening her eyes felt like it'd make it worse. She felt the Doctor take her hand and press it to his chest.

"Feel that?"

"It's your heart." Rose could feel the steady thump under her hand without opening her eyes.

The Doctor moved her hand to the other side of his chest. "Feel that?"

"It's your other heart."

"Beating normally."

Rose forced open an eye, not really understanding his point.

"Which neither one would be doing if you were going to die," finished off the Doctor simply. "You're going to be fine, Rose."

His words made her feel immediately better, and she would have relaxed, except for one thing. "Doctor?"

He smiled down at her. "Yes?"

"Is there a giant Teletubbie standing behind you?" she asked unevenly, eyes locked over his right shoulder.

The Doctor turned around. "Which one?"

"Tinky Winky."

He looked back at her and smiled. "No."

Rose opened both her eyes and blinked rapidly, staring straight at the large purple Teletubby. "Okay," she said weakly.

"You're hallucinating. From the poison."

Apparently knowing that didn't make the thing go away. "He's just standing there. He's creepy."

The Doctor looked back over his shoulder. "I've always thought so. Who carries a red bag if you're purple? No colour sense whatsoever."

Rose couldn't stop staring at Tinky Winky's face which was starting to swirl about and now spiders were crawling out of his nose and eyes. She gave a little squeak as the spiders cascaded out of Tinky Winky's ears and mouth now as well, swarming all over his body.

"What's happening? What's he doing?"

She squeezed her eyes closed at tightly as she could. "Nothing, nothing. It isn't real, it isn't real." Despite telling herself that, Rose could swear she could hear the skittering of all those legs darting about the room, filling it up. She started to shake. "It isn't real," she reminded herself desperately. Rose started violently when she felt something touch her arm, and she slapped at it wildly.

"It's me," the Doctor said, fending off her flailing arms, even as he continued to stretch out on the bed beside her. "Stop hitting me."

Rose was certain she could hear all those spiders whispering now, and she was too afraid to open her eyes. She felt the Doctor pull her closer to him, and then her head was on his chest. Rose immediately heard the comforting double thump sound of his two hearts, and it drowned out the clattering from the spiders that felt anything but imaginary.

The Doctor wrapped her arms around her. "It's alright. I'm here. Nothing is going to hurt you. I don't care how big that Teletubby or his purse is."

"Spiders," mumbled Rose against his chest.

"Or spiders. Just sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up, I promise."

Rose was quite sure that they were now both covered in spiders, but being held by the Doctor, hearing the comfort in his voice, she couldn't quite bring herself to care. If they were heading for a spider-filled death, at least it was together. That was her last thought before the darkness claimed her.

#

The Doctor moved a little on the bed, noting with relief that Rose had finally stopped shaking. He pushed a stray strand of hair back from her face as she slept in his arms, and trailed a finger down one flushed cheek. She was still hot to touch, but the antidote he'd given her should hopefully start to bring her body temperature back to normal soon. "You scared me," he informed her in a low voice, knowing it was safe to confess that because she couldn't hear him. Fortunately Rose didn't know about his little trick with being able to slow his own heartbeats at will, otherwise his demonstration of calm would have been a lot less comforting if she'd felt the real state of his heart rate when he'd discovered she'd been poisoned. Given her size, even a few mouthfuls of that fish could have killed her. The Doctor grimaced at the thought. He knew from long and painful experience how tenuous life was, but Rose was so fully alive and filled every room she was in with that life, it was easy for the Doctor to trick himself into not thinking about that when it came to Rose. Until moments like these forced himself to deal with the notion of losing her. Unconsciously his arms tightened around her, the thought causing him physical pain.

"Doctor?"

Eris' voice was in his head. "Yes?"

"Is Rose Tyler going to be alright?"

"Yes, Eris, I caught it in time." He looked down at the sleeping Rose in his arms. "Thank goodness."

There was a brief pause from Eris. "I am sorry. This was my fault. I searched my memories and they told me that Cyterian Blog fish was safe for her species."

"It's alright, Eris, you made a mistake."

"I do not normally make mistakes," remarked Eris unhappily. "I am unfamiliar with this concept."

"You're still healing. There will be neural lapses from time to time until you're back to full strength. That means sometimes you will having missing data."

"But my people believe in the sanctity of all life and in the protection of it," said Eris solemnly. "I have failed Rose Tyler in this matter. And you, Doctor."

The Doctor felt a wave of remorse sweep over him as Eris expressed the emotion with him via their telepathic link. "Rose is going to be alright. She'll tell you not to worry about it when she is feeling better."

"Rose Tyler was very mad at me. She raised her voice, and said I did it deliberately."

"That was just the projectile vomiting talking," said the Doctor confidently. "Rose has the kindest heart of anyone I know. She'll understand it was a mistake and forgive you."

"And you, Doctor, do you understand it was a mistake and forgive me?"

The Doctor looked down at Rose's sleeping countenance and pushed thoughts of her almost dying from his head. He couldn't function properly in that headspace. "Rose is going to be alright. That's all that matters."

"And our friendship remains?" pushed Eris.

"Yes, of course."

"That is good to hear." Eris paused briefly. "I have enjoyed our conversations over these last weeks, Doctor. It has been a long time since I have met a lifeform such as yourself."

"I've enjoyed them too, Eris. Your people have always fascinated me. I've travelled this universe for a long time, and only heard stories of you before we found you on that space station."

"I failed the Kout," remembered Eris sadly. "When they crashed on my planet, I believed I could help them to return home. That is why I took over their craft, repairing it with my neural networking and traveling with them to enable safe passage back to their home world. However, I could not save them from the raiders who looked to take them as slaves to sell. Their craft was not equipped to do such battle, and we sustained so much damage. If it had not been for you, I would surely be dead by now. I owe you my life, Doctor."

"You owe me nothing, Eris. Just live a long and happy life. That is all I ask." He smiled. "When you feel strong enough, you can let me know where you'd like me to take you."

"And we will part as friends?"

"Of course."

"This is welcome news, Doctor. Thank you."

"And until that time, Rose and I are happy to have your company."

"I am not sure you speak for Rose Tyler, Doctor. I sense in her a dislike of me. She is not comfortable about my presence, as we are so different."

"Rose isn't like that. She's very open-minded and doesn't judge anyone on their species."

"I hope what you are saying is true, Doctor. I have enjoyed being in both of your companies and would not like to become a burden."

"No burden. The TARDIS is a big place. Rose and I have no particular place to be. We're learning a lot from each other. It's all worked out nicely."

"About learning from each other, we discussed yesterday my ability to transfer quintochromacy abilities to other lifeforms. I have regained that ability, and was wondering if you would like me to share the experience with you?"

"The ability to see light from five different light sources simultaneously?" said the Doctor, intrigued. It would grant him the ability to perceive 300 million colours, instead of the tetrachromacy he currently had, which was 100 million colours. Poor humans could only see around 7 million colours, being only trichromats.

"Yes, if you come to me now, I can share it with you."

The Doctor looked down at Rose and hesitated.

"Rose Tyler is sleeping. She is not cognizant of your presence, so it is superfluous."

The Doctor tried to find the words to explain his reluctance to leave Rose, even though he knew what Eris was saying was logical. "I know, but if I'm with Rose, she won't leave me."

"I do not understand."

"She said she'd stay with me… always."

"You are often not in the same room together. I do not understand what you mean."

The Doctor struggled to make sense of a driving emotion when it came to Rose for Eris to understand. "I could have lost Rose today. I need to be with her. She won't leave if she knows I'm here." Leave felt like a safer word to use than die. The Doctor was studiously avoiding that word.

"Your presence has no effect on the outcome of her body dealing with the poison she ingested," pointed out Eris logically.

"I am aware of that." The Doctor looked down at Rose again. "But I still need to be with her right now. It's how you feel when you almost lose someone you care about. You need to be close to them, to reassure yourself and them."

"As you wish, Doctor. I only offered because of your previous interest in experiencing tetrachromacy."

"And I'm still interested, Eris, but right now, Rose is my priority."

"I understand. I will leave you now."

The Doctor felt Eris wink out of his consciousness and then it was just Rose and him again. He moved down so that their head now shared the same pillow, turning to face her. He put a hand on her heart and didn't like how erratic it felt. She was still battling the effects of the poison. The Doctor hadn't expected it to take quite this long. Rose should have improved more quickly than this. "I'm here, Rose," he said softly. "You said you'd never leave me." The Doctor cupped her face, thumb scraping gently across her cheekbone. "Keep your promise," he implored her quietly.

Rose's eyes fluttered open and she attempted to focus on him. "Artichoke," she mumbled before promptly falling back asleep.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he agreed with her quietly, letting her snuggle in closer to him and feeling the reassurance of her warmth while he offered her the same. "Artichoke indeed." He kissed her forehead gently, and willed the poison to leave her system more quickly so they could both find some relief.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

The Doctor popped his head out of the TARDIS and surveyed his surroundings with the usual interest he held for just about everything he did. It was the possibilities you see, the endless possibilities of what lay outside his beloved TARDIS that always called to him, the distractions of a universe in constant flux meant there was always an adventure to be found or more typically, to find him. Right now though, it wasn't adventure he was looking for. He leaned back into the TARDIS.

"Just popping out for a bit. Won't be long."

"Of course, Doctor," replied Eris calmly as she hovered in one corner of the console room, tinting everything green with her warm glow.

"I'm getting Rose."

"Yes. You said. I assume you had not changed your mind since setting coordinates."

"Because three days is plenty of time to calm down and get some perspective." The Doctor was nervous. He was looking for reassurance. "Don't you think?"

"I have no reliable data on how long it takes a human to see reason," observed Eris. "There appears to be too many variables to make even a passingly accurate assumption."

"Quite, quite," said the Doctor hastily. He paused. "But still, three days, that sounds about ballpark, doesn't it?"

"I have not gained any further data on the matter in the nine seconds since I previously stated my position on this, Doctor."

"You're a giant, empathetic brain, Eris," said the Doctor in mild frustration. "Surely you must have some insight into Rose's state of mind when she asked me to take her home?"

"Rose Tyler was upset with you, and felt you were not listening to her, so she requested she be returned to her own species."

"Yes, yes," said the Doctor impatiently. "I remember."

" _Doctor?"_

 _He was fiddling with the data recorder from the doomed space station they'd rescued Eris from. "Mm?"_

" _Can I talk to you?" Rose was by his side._

" _Absolutely," he said happily, still intent on extracting the data from the damaged device._

" _In private."_

 _He looked up from what he was doing. "We are in private." The Doctor followed Rose's gaze to where Eris was floating on the other side of the room. "Eris doesn't count. She is going through a regeneration, creating new cells. She cuts off all telepathic links while that is happening. You've seen her do it dozens of times in the last month."_

 _Rose's lips thinned as she moved towards the door. "Doctor."_

" _Oh, alright, alright, I'm coming." He stood up and passed by Rose into the corridor. "Totally unnecessary as it is." Rose was by his side now as they walked. "What is it?"_

 _Rose threw a look back over her shoulder. "I want to talk to you about Eris."_

" _What about her?"_

" _I think she's up to no good."_

 _The Doctor stopped walking and frowned. "Why would you say that?"_

" _Well, for one thing, she tried to kill me," said Rose hotly._

" _Rose, that was an accident. Her recollection functions about the human digestive system were altered because of how badly damaged she was at the time. Eris was very sorry about what happened. She apologised to you, didn't she?"_

" _And you believe it was a real accident?" asked Rose in disbelief._

" _Of course. Why wouldn't I? The Dushraki are highly evolved beings who would never dream of hurting another living being. Their whole mantra is to serve and protect. They are a venerable race who are far above causing harm-"_

" _Yes, yes," snapped Rose, "she's your unicorn, I get it."_

 _The Doctor was a little taken aback. "Actually, I-"_

" _What about all the weird things which have been happening in the last couple of weeks?" persisted Rose._

" _What weird things?"_

" _I had to sleep in the library for three days because my bedroom went missing."_

" _It was always there when I went to look for it," he reasoned. "Perhaps you just got a little turned around. You lost a lot of electrolytes post that vomiting frenzy. That affects brain function, you know. Not to mention the effect it had on the poor receptacle you chose to be repeatedly violently ill into. It was a hand-carved bowl given to me as a gift from the King of Siam." The Doctor pulled a face. "I had to flush it out into space. Such an ignoble end for such craftsmanship," he lamented._

" _Hey!" Rose clicked her fingers in front of his face to get his attention back on her. "Your stupid waste bin isn't the point-"_

" _It was for umbrellas."_

" _I don't care if it was for housing elephants," she said tersely. "I'm trying to tell you something is up with Eris."_

" _Again, what exactly?"_

" _I hear you calling me, but when I get there, you're not there." Rose held up an imperious finger. "And don't say it's because I'm brain damaged from vomiting my entire body weight up again!"_

" _I never said your brain was damaged in the first place," he protested. "Just perhaps a little disorientated."_

" _Every time I've tried to talk to you about this we've been interrupted," Rose persisted. "An alarm bell here, a faulty exhaust panel there. She doesn't want us to be alone together."_

" _Why wouldn't she want that?" asked a bewildered Doctor._

" _Because she's jealous of me."_

 _The Doctor couldn't help but smile. "Rose."_

" _What is funny about that?" she asked hotly._

" _Don't you think that's just a little bit… absurd?"_

" _No," said Rose putting her hands on her hips. "I don't. She resents any time that you and I spend together, even though you and she have spent countless hours talking together in a little huddle. You don't see it because you're besotted with Eris, and she can't do any wrong!"_

" _I am not besotted, and there is no wrong doing to see," he said in exasperation._

" _Eris is trying to make me look crazy to you."_

" _Eris is?"_

 _Rose's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Her story, there is something wrong with it."_

" _Such as?"_

" _Such as if her ship was overrun with pirates and everyone taken, where were all the signs of laser fire and a battle going on? Do you think everyone on board just gave up?"_

" _Maybe. Maybe they were promised safety if they came quietly?"_

" _Okay, then what about the space station itself? That had more damage to it than just someone opening fire on it. It was practically torn in half. You telling me some pirate ship did that to an unarmed space station? Why? They had no weapons to fight back, why bother?"_

" _Because pirates tend to be singularly unpleasant people who are just out to cause mayhem and make money?" he offered up._

" _And that's another thing. If Eris is so precious and a one off, why didn't the pirates take her? Wouldn't a legendary Dushaki fetch a pretty penny on the open market? Why leave behind arguably the most precious thing on board?"_

" _Maybe because they didn't know what they were looking at?"_

" _And what about that smell?" she persisted. "There has been a weird funk in the air, like wet dog, ever since she got here, and it's only getting stronger."_

" _Mickey had a weird smell to him when he was travelling with us," he pointed out. "I'm not really seeing your point here."_

" _That's because she's got you under some kind of spell," said Rose in frustration._

" _That is absolutely not true," he said sharply. "I just happen to find Eris interesting, and am glad of a chance to learn more about her species."_

" _Even if she ends up killing us all?"_

" _Rose," he groaned, "the Dushraki don't kill. I keep telling you, they are far too evolved-"_

" _I know what you said, but we've only got Eris' word for what happened to the Kout. I think we're in danger, and Eris has gotten herself into the TARDIS somehow."_

" _Rose-"_

" _You said that she can extend those tentacle things of her to go throughout ships and control them."_

" _First of all, the TARDIS isn't just any ship, and second of all, you can see her neural links floating around her. They don't extend into the TARDIS at all. Eris isn't controlling anything." The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, this feels like a case of cabin fever. I know we haven't been anywhere since picking up Eris and having to stay in close proximity to a blue sun for her to heal. Maybe we should take a little jaunt to a nearby planet and get some fresh air, eh?"_

" _Maybe you should ask yourself why that black box thingy was so badly damaged when nothing else in that control room was?" shot back Rose. "And while you're asking yourself that, you might want to ask yourself why all of your attempts to retrieve the corrupted information has failed, despite how much more advanced your technology is. It keeps on shorting out while running the program, doesn't it?"_

" _Well, yes, but that could be just a quirk of the TARDIS. I've been meaning to give that circuitry a good clean out for ages."_

" _Can you hear yourself?" asked Rose, her voice now raised. "You're not willing to listen to anything bad about Eris at all, are you?"_

" _I did listen," he protested quickly. "I just think there is a perfectly logical explanation for it all-"_

" _Guess I'll just have to prove it to you then," said Rose, her lips set in a thin line of determination. "I-"_

 _Rose didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because suddenly the TARDIS lurched to one side violently, throwing them against the corridor wall and then tumbling to the floor. The Doctor leapt to his feet. "Are you alright?"_

 _A dazed looking Rose blinked up at him. "Yes."_

 _With her assurance, the Doctor was now free to run back to the console room and check to see what happened. He ran to the console and started checking readings. "Eris, are you alright?" he asked urgently, flicking her a quick look before going back to the read outs in front of him._

" _Yes, Doctor. My centre of gravity is unaffected by the movements of my surrounds."_

" _Good, good," he murmured distractedly, hands flying over the console._

 _Rose was suddenly beside him again. "What was it? What happened?"_

" _We just lost stabilisers for a moment," he deduced. "They're back working now."_

 _Rose sent Eris a dark look. "Is that right? How convenient."_

" _To not be careening through space at this moment? Highly convenient," he agreed with her._

" _This is exactly what I was talking about," hissed Rose to him in a low voice. "Eris is doing this."_

" _How, Rose, how? The TARDIS would alarm at any foreign infiltration, and that'd be the only way Eris could do any of the things you're accusing her of."_

" _Fine, you know what, you love that big green glob so much, you can have her," said Rose fiercely. "You clearly don't need me, so you can just take me home."_

" _Rose, don't be unreasonable-"_

" _Now, Doctor! I don't want to be here anymore, with you, like this!"_

" _But-"_

" _Take me home right now. We're done talking about this!"_

"You fought and Rose Tyler expressed her desire to no longer be in your company, Doctor."

"Again, yes, I remember that," he said with mild ire. "My question was did you have any empathetic feel on just how angry she was, and how long it might take for her to calm down?"

"You continue to ask me the same question in various ways, and my answer remains unchanged."

"It's just that this is our first big fight," he fretted. "I mean, we fought once before, but I had a different face back then." The Doctor remembered their huge fight about her father and Rose trying to save him. He'd been so angry, because he'd been so scared by what she'd done. Undoing death never came without a terrible price to be paid. He grimaced. "I don't know if a new face makes a difference in a fight." Suddenly the Doctor was second guessing everything in his nervousness. "I feel like I wouldn't have this worry if I'd been ginger this time around."

"Ginger?"

"It's a thing," he waved her off. "Rose would know. Rose would understand."

"If Rose Tyler is so knowing and understanding, then there is no reason for your hesitation, Doctor. She will return to you, if that is what you want."

"Of course it's what I want." He sighed. "It's what I always want, even when I'm sending her away," he murmured.

"Then all that remains to be seen is if Rose Tyler feels the same way," stated Eris practically.

"Which she will because she loves travelling in the TARDIS," said the Doctor brightly. "With me. In the TARDIS. Us, together. In the TARDIS." His head bobbed up and down. "Okay, good talk, yes, everything is going to be fine. Thank you, Eris."

"You are welcome, Doctor, although I am not sure I was actually helpful in anyway."

"Mmhm, yes, good," he said distractedly. "I'll be right back." The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, carefully locking her behind him and then started to make his way down the familiar street, shoving his hands in his pockets and whistling a cheerful tune as he did, forcefully telling himself he wasn't worried.

Only he was.

The TARDIS and its many rooms had never seemed so empty to him as they did now, even though Eris was still with him. All those companions that had come and gone over the centuries; none had filled those rooms the way Rose did. Each of his companions had meant something special to the Doctor, treasured memories of friendship and shared adventures ensuring that he'd never forget them, no matter how many times he'd regenerated.

But Rose was something different… something altogether unexpected.

That first time he'd seen her, in the roof of the shop she worked in, he'd fallen and fallen hard. He'd seen it in her eyes too, the sense of recognition even though they'd never met before. It was why he'd offered her a place in the TARDIS a second time after she'd said no to his first invitation, something he'd never done before. Somehow, he just knew that was where she was meant to be, and she'd known it too. The memory of the look on her face as she'd run to join him on board the TARDIS was still brightly etched in his mind's eye.

It was why Rose's demand for him to take her home had stung him so badly. She belonged with him, she knew, he knew it. For heaven's sake, even Mickey and her Mum knew it, despite their collective disapproval. So, why had Rose wanted to leave him when they fought over Eris? That had never happened before. They'd disagreed before, but she'd never asked him to take her home because of it before now. It scared him that Rose might come home and decide never to leave again. Jackie would certainly be pushing for that, having never been pleased at her daughter gallivanting off round the universe in the first place. He'd given her three days at home before returning for her, fearful of leaving it any longer in case Jackie's concerns had started to make sense to Rose all of a sudden.

It bothered the Doctor how much he cared whether Rose would stay or go, having always managed some measure of distance between himself and his previous companions, protecting himself in some way against the inevitable separation that he knew was always just around the corner. He'd told Rose himself that she might spend the rest of her life with him, but he couldn't do the same with her. He'd only been speaking the truth, but he'd seen the flash of pain in her eyes as she realised for the first time what it fully meant to travel with him. The Doctor had experienced it many times before but this concept had been something Rose had obviously never really considered properly before.

Now his fear was that away from the many distractions from life on board the TARDIS, Rose had time to think about it all, and decided that the ride wasn't worth the fall - that he wasn't worth it. However, therein lay the problem because the Doctor had decided long ago, almost from the first that she _was_ worth it. It was why he was climbing the steps to her mother's flat when what he should really be using this opportunity to leave Rose to have a normal, carefree and uncomplicated life.

The feelings that he'd so totally lost control over the very first time she'd smiled and said his name had made him selfish. He used to be a lot more selfless the Doctor decided, any one of his previous regenerations would do the right thing, and save her any further heart ache by leaving her be. Even the previous one had tricked her into returning to her home without him, but that was to save her life. He'd do the same again if the situation called for it, however, if there any way to be with her then he was going to grab onto it with both hands until fate wrenched her from his grasp.

The Doctor stood at Jackie's door and took a deep breath. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door, finalising his plan to lure Rose back in his head. He was going to start with tantalising talk of watching the rise of the three suns on Traxx, and then after that whisk her off to meet some real mermaids in the Corvanath waters of New Babylonia. Of course, they weren't proper mermaids, what with the third eye and all, but they came very close to the mythological creatures Rose would know from the Earth stories. He knew she wouldn't be able to contain her curiosity, especially when he told her what they could do with that third eye. At least he hoped she wouldn't be able to. As a last resort he could tell her that Eris would be leaving them soon, and she wouldn't have to worry anymore about their guest. The Doctor hadn't technically spoken to Eris directly about it, but he was sure she was eager to make a new home for herself somewhere in the universe. Now, all Rose had to do was answer the door and they could get everything sorted out, and all would be right with their world again.

"Jackie's not home, luv."

The Doctor turned around at the sound of the woman's voice and shot her a broad smile for her trouble. "I was beginning to think that was the case," said the Doctor, turning to face her properly. "I don't suppose you know when she'll be back do you Mrs-?"

The neighbour looked him up and down. "Daphne," supplied the older woman. "Lived next door to Jackie and Rose for years now. Are you that doctor our Rose is travelling with?"

"Yes, that's right," said the Doctor with a big smile, pleased that she had obviously been talking about him. That was surely a good sign. _Wasn't it?_ "It's actually Rose that I'm looking for, Daphne. You don't happen to know where I might find her or Jackie, do you?"

"Oh love," said Daphne, looking at him in dismay, "you don't know, do you?"

"Don't know what, Daphne?" asked the Doctor, feeling his smile freeze on his face at her tone.

"Jackie's in the hospital," she said quietly.

"What happened?" asked the Doctor, his brow furrowing in concern. "Is she alright?"

Rose would be devastated if anything happened to her Mum, and the Doctor hated the thought of her having to suffer the pain of the loss of another parent.

"Jackie's fine."

Doctor felt himself begin to relax a little.

"It's Rose."

"What's Rose?" he said hoarsely, tensing up again immediately.

"There was a car accident and Rose, well, Rose-" Daphne faltered, looking very sad. "It doesn't look good, luv."

Her words seemed to hang there in the air between them, it felt to the Doctor that he could simply reach out and pluck them from where they hovered in front of him, and crumple them in his hands, destroy them and make it all not true.

"Where?" he managed to force out through stiff lips.

"Where did it happen?" asked Daphne confusedly.

"Where is Rose?" the Doctor rasped.

"West Lake Hospital up the road and five streets over," she said, laying a sympathetic hand on his sleeve. "Jackie was home a little while ago, but the hospital called, and said she should come back right away. They said she'd taken a turn for the worse. I'm sorry, Doctor, but it may already be too late."

The Doctor took a backward step, and then another, as though trying to put some distance between himself and what Daphne had just told him. He needed to see Rose, needed to see with his own eyes what he just heard was true. It didn't seem possible, not his vibrant Rose, she couldn't possibly be gone, it was inconceivable. As long as she still had breath in her body, he could save her. He could somehow he could fix this. The Doctor began to run then, back down the stairs he'd casually walked up only minutes previously, before everything had changed. He ran the distance between Jackie's flat and the hospital as though the Daleks, Cybermen and every other enemy he had ever faced was hot on his heels. His only thought was for Rose to keep breathing, the sheer force of his will would see to everything else, it would just have to.

 **A/N: Place your bets… does Rose live or die? The answer might surprise you. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** **: So sorry to those kind enough to be reading this fic that I've taken so long to update. Life is just so crazy these days. Bit of a longer chapter and I'm half way through the next, so hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be so long. I'm going somewhere with all of this and dropping a few little cookies, so hopefully it'll all make sense in the end.**

 **Thanks as always for reading…**

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

A human would have been out of breath from running so far and so fast but the Doctor hadn't even managed a sweat from his exertions. He paused only long enough at reception to find out which ward Rose was in, and then took to the stairs, finding the wait for the lifts an unacceptable delay. He burst out of the heavy double doors of the stairwell into the coldly sterile halls of ICU. Medical staff moved about in that unhurried fashion that still managed to project some measure of urgency. The Doctor instantly saw Jackie, leaning against a far wall, hunched over and sobbing inconsolably into her hands.

The Doctor stood frozen to the spot, not wanting to go over and speak to her, not wanting to have her say the words that would have Rose stolen from him forever, before he was ready. Before he'd steeled himself to lose her - it was too soon. Forcing himself to walk those last few feet to where Jackie was doubled over, was one of the hardest things he'd had to do in his long life but he managed it, just.

"Jackie?" he whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Jackie's head shot up at the sound of his voice, her tear soaked eyes wide and blood shot as she looked up at him.

"Doctor!" she said, her voice cracking with emotion before throwing herself into his arms.

The Doctor closed his eyes and returned the hug, holding her tightly to him as she started to sob again. They stood like that for a moment, Jackie too overcome to say anything more and the Doctor too fearful to ask anything further.

"You have to save her!" declared Jackie, pulling back a little from their embrace and looking frantically into his eyes.

"She's still alive?" asked the Doctor, a fresh hope awakening in him.

"Yes," said Jackie with a desperate nod of her head. "They called me earlier to say… to say-" Jackie lost the ability to string words together for a moment but eventually won the struggle to keep going. "My baby's heart failed," she said with a sob in her voice. "It was everything that her body had gone through, her heart couldn't take it. They thought that they were going to lose her so they rang me to come back but they didn't know Rose, they didn't know how big and strong a heart my Rose has."

The Doctor nodded, he knew first hand just how powerful Rose's heart really was and how it had saved both of them countless times. "What happened, Jackie?" he asked, needing to know how it was that the fiercely alive young woman he dropped off only three short days ago could be in a desperate fight for her life now.

"It happened yesterday at lunch time across the road at the park. There was a young girl playing on the street, Claudette's youngest, Brianna," said Jackie, her voice hollow from the horror of reliving the moment. "Then there was this speeding car. Rose saw it, saw that Brianna wouldn't get out of the way in time so she ran out and pushed her to safety but couldn't do the same for herself. The sound of it, the tyres screeching, her body bouncing off the car, the thud as she hit the ground-" She looked abruptly away. "It was like watching her father die all over again." Jackie looked back up at him. "But you're here now, Doctor, you can make this all go away," said Jackie, grabbing his lapels with shaking hands. "You can go back and stop her from being hit by that car."

"Jackie," said the Doctor with a painful shake of his head. "I can't do that. The time continuum has to remain intact. I can't go back and change it now." It hurt to say the words. The reality of the situation was agony.

"Don't you say that!" cried Jackie, breaking out of his grasp and starting to beat on his chest with her tightly clenched fists. "What is the use of you if you can't save her? What has it all been for, why are you even here if all you can do is watch her die with the rest of us?"

The Doctor let her vent her anger and fear on him, accepting her blows without even flinching, hating the truth in her words.

"You're useless!" she sobbed at him, finally giving up her pummelling of his chest, her knees giving way as she sagged to the ground.

The Doctor caught her before she hit the ground, crouching down beside her as she continued to sob softly.

"Listen to me, Jackie," he pleaded with her desperately. "I'd give anything to change this, but there would be untold consequences if I undid this. It could rip open the world."

Jackie looked up at him with lifeless eyes. "My world is already ripped open, Doctor. Rose is all I have in this life."

The Doctor swallowed hard, knowing how that felt. "I know," he rasped.

"If you can't stop it from happening then you can fix it now."

Both Jackie and the Doctor looked up at the sound of Mickey's voice. His face was ashen and set in a sad, stern expression that the Doctor had never seen before. He had two cups of tea in his hands, obviously for himself and Jackie as they kept watch over Rose together.

"You can take her into the future where they have all that advance medicine to look after her, fix her up as good as new," said Mickey, walking towards them with an intense look on his face. "You can still save her Doctor, you know you can."

"I can't," whispered the Doctor painfully. "The time continuum can't be interfered with. Rose has to survive this by herself; otherwise, if I interfere, then it will threaten the balance of the whole world. Things will start to degenerate and fall apart; this world will break apart at the seams."

"Then Jackie's right," said Mickey bitterly. "What's the use of you?"

In that moment, the Doctor didn't have an answer to that question. Nothing made sense all of a sudden. His whole equilibrium was tilting on its axis and he couldn't think. The Doctor could always think. That was his gift, his mind. Right now though, there was only one thought for him. "I need to see her," he said quietly.

Jackie opened her mouth and it looked like she was going to deny him his request, but then she nodded, shoulders sagging as she looked defeated. The Doctor stepped away from the two of them, walking to her room slowly. In Rose's room it was eerily quiet, save for the sounds coming from the various machines that she was connected to, each one beeping and buzzing at different intervals, letting anyone who was interested know that they were doing their appointed tasks. The Doctor stood over her bed and looked down at the small broken figure that lay in it. Her hair fanned out around her too pale face and tubes ran along her skin, connecting themselves to her and helping her breath, as she no longer had the strength to do so alone.

Apart from a graze on her forehead and heavily bandaged knee it seemed to the Doctor that she could simply be sleeping and that at any moment would open her eyes and demand to know what she was doing stuck in a hospital bed when there were whole galaxies out there to be explored. He reached out a hand and touched one of hers; it also had plastic lines disappearing into its bruised flesh and was scared at how cold it felt.

"There is a chair there, if you wanted to sit down."

The Doctor looked over at the young nurse who had spoken and gave her a small smile, acknowledging her words before reaching behind him and pulling over the chair and taking a seat, all without releasing Rose's hand.

"She's a fighter that one," said the nurse in a kindly tone.

"You have no idea," agreed the Doctor, looking back down at Rose sadly.

"Are you a relative?" asked the nurse, coming round to check on her various lines.

"No," said the Doctor softly, not taking his eyes off Rose.

"Oh, then you're her…"

"Just hers," finished the Doctor simply as the other woman trailed off expectantly. It was the Doctor's turn to trail off then, lost for a moment in his own dark musings. "In spite of the impossibility of it all," he whispered softly, more to himself than anyone else. "I'm hers."

"I'm sorry, Mr… ah-"

"Smith," said the Doctor, giving her another brief smile. "Doctor John Smith."

The nurse looked surprised. "Oh, you're a doctor?"

"Of this and that," he confirmed, returning to look at Rose. "How is she doing?"

"It's her heart," said the nurse with a sad shake of her head. "It's had to endure so much, it just got too much and it stopped. We managed to get it going again, but there was so much damage done. I'm sorry, but you should really prepare yourself. Her heart can't go on much longer as it is. I really am very sorry, Dr Smith."

"It will be alright," said the Doctor, almost talking to himself again as he leaned closer to Rose. "She can have one of mine."

The nurse arched an eyebrow at the odd declaration, but obviously decided not to press the matter as she quietly left the room.

"You know, Rose Tyler," said the Doctor in a low voice, leaning in as close as he could to her. "This is no way to win an argument. Now, I want you to stop all of this foolishness and open your eyes and look at me." His only answer was the unrelenting sounds of the instruments that were currently keeping Rose alive and monitoring her progress.

"Alright then, if that is how you want to play it," said the Doctor firmly, intent on getting some kind of reaction from her. "I should let you know that I was going to take you to meet some real live mermaids. Yes, that's right, mermaids, but if you're going to carry on like this you can just miss out. What do you say to that then?"

Again, only the machines answered him.

"I have to say I'm very disappointed in you, Rose," he continued with feigned casualness. "I leave you alone for three days and you go and get yourself hit by a car. I mean, do I have to watch over you every minute, young lady?"

Silence.

The Doctor gave a small choked self-deprecating laugh at his ineffectual attempts to raise some kind of response from her. "Because I would, you know," he confessed to her in an aching whisper. "Every minute of every day if you'd only let me, Rose Tyler." He studied her face carefully, looking for any sign of the Rose that he knew. Any sign at all that she was still in there and could hear him.

"I'm not ready," he confided to her helplessly. "Not yet, Rose, it's too soon."

He reached out a hand and brushed away a loose lock of hair from her forehead as he spoke, gently stroking her soft skin, clenching his jaw tightly in an attempt to hold at bay the full force of his emotions. The Doctor shook his head then as frustration overtook him.

"Why do you humans have to be so hopelessly fragile?" he asked, almost angrily, the pain he was in needing some kind of release. "Why couldn't you be like the Diconians? They're covered in a bony shell and emit a toxic gas. I mean, now there is a sensible defence mechanism." Once started with this train of thought, the Doctor couldn't seem to stop himself, the words falling out of his mouth. "What do you humans have, eh? You can't run fast, can't fly or spit venom. You're all soft and squidgy and have no ability to regenerate or repair yourself to any real degree. I ask you, could you be any more helpless? And you live for such a short time - eighty, ninety years. You're only just starting to get the first inkling of how life is by then and then you have to up and die." The Doctor forced himself to stop talking and get himself back under control. He dragged in an unsteady breath. "Sorry," he apologised, shame faced. "I know you can't help being so genetically retarded. Oh, sorry." The Doctor grimaced. "That was me being rude again, wasn't it? I really must try and get a better handle on that."

The Doctor looked down at the hand that he still held in his and brought it to his face, holding her palm against his cheek and sighed heavily. "Now listen to me, Rose Tyler, and listen carefully," said the Doctor his tone unutterably determined. "This isn't how it ends, so I don't care what it is you have to do but don't let this win. You can do this, Rose, I know you can, you just have to fight to come back to us, and if I know one thing about you it is that you are a fighter."

Only that interminable silence met his entreaty and the Doctor sighed deeply again and went back to stroking her hand gently. It seemed stupid now but it had seemed to him that he should be able to bring her back into this world by the sheer force of his will alone. That she'd feel him there, hear his voice and that would be enough, she'd open those big brown eyes and his Rose would be returned to him.

"She's the best thing I ever did with my life, you know?"

The Doctor turned to look at Jackie, not noticing her having entered the room before that.

"From that first moment I held her, the first time she looked at me I just fell so in love with her." Jackie walked over to stand on the other side of Rose's bed and began to stroke her daughter's hair. "I didn't even know you could love someone like that. It was like I discovered a completely new type of love," she said, more to herself than anyone else. "I'd get up in the middle of the night and sit and stare at her. I just couldn't believe I'd had a part in creating this perfect little being."

The Doctor looked from Jackie to Rose and felt a pang of empathy for the other woman. He knew what it was to fall into those brown eyes and never find your way out again, more than that, never want to escape them. He knew that Jackie's problem with him had always been over her fear for Rose's safety and he couldn't deny her that. On more than one occasion, the Doctor had felt the need to keep her safe well up inside him and obliterate any other consideration that he might have hesitated over before. He blinked. So why then hadn't he listened to her concerns about Eris? The thought lumbered into being almost reluctantly, and the Doctor tried to fathom why it hadn't been a concern before. He trusted Rose's instincts, always had.

"She was a right little miss, right from the beginning," said Jackie with a choked laugh. "Always bossing all the other kids around and getting into all kinds of trouble. I used to spend half my life up at the Principal's office. Trouble was she always cared too much, always end up doing anything to look after her friends. I used to tell her 'Rose, you can't get so involved in every little thing, you're not responsible for everyone in the world' but would she listen?"

"If she listened, she wouldn't be Rose," said the Doctor, a slight frown marring his brow. Rose cared for others. Deeply. She wouldn't willingly turn her back on anyone unless she had genuine concerns. Was she right to be worried about Eris? The Doctor shook his head a little to clear it. Why hadn't he asked himself that before just then?

"I know," said Jackie, a tear rolling down her face. "I just can't believe that her heart is letting her down so badly when it was always the strongest thing about her."

"I'm sorry, Jackie," said the Doctor with deep sincerity. "So sorry, if I could do something but the consequences, they're just too vast."

"As long as you can live with the consequences of doing nothing, Doctor," said Jackie, fixing him with a hard look, grief stripping the emotion from her voice. "Can you live with the thought of never seeing her again, knowing that you could have saved her? Oh, I know that you live a long time and eventually you would have had to leave her, but like this? Are you prepared never to be with her again, prepared to watch as we put her in the cold ground next to her father before her time?"

"That's not fair, Jackie," said the Doctor, clenching his jaw from the pain of her words. "If I could change places with her I would, in a heartbeat."

"Yeah well," said Jackie bitterly, "one thing I know about life is that it isn't fair. It isn't fair that my beautiful daughter is lying in that bed fighting for her life, but there it is. It's not fair that of all the people on this earth you could actually do something about it, but say that you can't. It's not fair that you stole her away from me these last three years, and I've spent the whole time worrying myself sick that you were going to get her killed with all of your wild adventures." Jackie glared at him. "You had no right to come into our lives and break apart my family."

"It was Rose's choice," said the Doctor stiffly, not used to being on the defensive about such things.

"Ha," said Jackie derisively, "she never had a choice. First time she laid eyes on you she was a goner. I told her she was infatuated with you, that she wasn't thinking straight. I wish now that that was all that it was. This isn't some silly little crush that you get your heart broken over and move on older and wiser is it, Doctor?"

The Doctor frowned, not sure if he wanted to hear what she was going to say next.

"Every time she came home I could see it in her eyes," said Jackie dully, looking back at her daughter. "You have a power over her, a power that would see her trade her life for yours without any thought. A power that means that she'd never willingly leave you. My only comfort was that she had the same power over you. Or at least I thought she did." Jackie then fixed him with a fierce stare. "Guess I was wrong," she said in a hard voice. "Looks like she was just another disposable distraction like all the rest after all."

"Don't you say that," said the Doctor, his voice beginning to rise in anger. "Rose was never that to me!"

"Prove it!" she taunted him harshly, grief making her cruel. "Prove to me how important my daughter is to you, otherwise you just keep the hell away from her! I never want to see you near my Rose again, do you hear me!"

The sound of their raised voices had attracted some attention and the nurse reappeared in the room with a disapproving look on her face. "What's going on here?" she demanded in a loud whisper. "This is a hospital, not a football field."

"It's alright," said Jackie harshly. "The Doctor was just leaving."

The Doctor held her bitter gaze for a moment, the anger and frustration welling up inside him at her unfair accusations. He wanted to shout at her that it wasn't true, that Rose meant so much to him but he couldn't back those words up, at least not in the way Jackie wanted him to. He gave Jackie a resigned nod and started to walk out of the room.

"Take a last look, Doctor," said Jackie coldly, her grief hardening her heart, "You're never going to see her again, no matter what happens."

The Doctor turned round then and locked with Jackie's terrible gaze again before his eyes slid unbidden down to the woman that they were fighting over. He seemed frozen then, unable to take his eyes off her if indeed this was going to be the last time he saw her. The horrible reality of being without her hitting him like a tidal wave, rooting him to the spot. Just how exactly was he meant to leave her there like this anyway?

Unbidden, he found himself walking slowly back to stand beside Rose's bed, uncaring of Jackie's angry glare and bent down low over her so that his lips were pressed directly to her ear needing to say so much but for once words failed him. There was still the faint scent of her perfume on her skin that had somehow managed to ward off the cold, sterile smell of the hospital and as he breathed it in the words came.

 _Three simple words._

"Stay with me," he whispered simply against her ear so that only she could hear.

 _Three simple words._

Not the usual three words that perhaps someone else might utter at a time like this, but for the Doctor they confessed a need that he'd never allowed himself to ask anyone to fill before. Always he'd let the people in his life drift in and out, holding onto everything loosely because that was what life had taught him, that everything ended and to try and fight that was a battle he was never going to win. So, he hadn't tried, just accepted that was how it was and always would be and lived his life accordingly. But now, Rose had changed that for him. For the first time in his very long life he couldn't let go, couldn't let her slip through his fingers like everything and everyone else. Three simple words that said everything there was to say.

 _Stay with me._

Nothing and no one else mattered except for the truth of that need in those words.


End file.
